I meant to post this much sooner, but I came down with a rotten cold almost immediately after coming back from my spring break (which was excellent, btw) and thus I've been moping around and sleeping a lot. Anyway here it is, conclusion to the previous chapter. You didn't think I'd make Tony to be a jerk, did you...?

I own nothing

-

As they stumbled upstairs Tony inhaled her cloying perfume and tried to block out her irritating giggles. He could do this – he had to do this. Hadn't he once been the master of this? Smirking, he pulled the woman toward his bed, spun her around, and set her down. She leaned back on her elbows, giving off another annoying giggle, and Tony crawled on the bed next to her.

She leaned in and kissed him. And it felt completely, utterly wrong. Tony pulled away abruptly and she, unfortunately, took it as a sign to deepen her forays with her hands. He grabbed her wrist before it went too far.

"Time to go."

"Hmm?" she murmured, not listening.

Tony stared at the top of her dark hair, the way it was pulled back into an infuriatingly high ponytail. She reeked of whatever the hell she had sprayed all over herself, and her skin was too dark and not freckled enough.

She was kissing his neck again. Tony pushed her away, probably a little too forcefully.

"Tony, what's wrong?"

"You need to go."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"Are you kidding?" Her heavily-lined eyes squinted at him through the dark.

"Nope," Tony answered. "Sorry. See yourself out," he added and walked toward the bathroom, leaving the brunette splayed upon the bed. Inside his bathroom Tony flicked the light on, leaned heavily on the vanity, and asked Jarvis to keep an eye on her as she made her way out of the mansion. Two minutes later, Tony heard the door slam and Jarvis confirm her departure.

He looked at himself in the mirror; his hair was disheveled, and pink lipstick tracks marked his neck. Disgusted, Tony walked back into the bedroom but was overwhelmed with the smell of the woman. The woman who was most definitely not Pepper. His Pepper. Pepper, who he'd pushed away because he couldn't deal.

Tony gave a groan of exasperation and anger. He took a pillow from his bed and threw it, causing it to crash against a lamp. Satisfied with the destruction, Tony grabbed the next pillow and threw it the opposite way, toward the closet. The pillow slammed into the doors. Feeling his anger grow Tony continued to throw his pillows, and when he ran out he pulled the duvet off and sent it sailing across the room. Finally he lifted the mattress from one end and flipped it over, kicked the corner of his bed for good measure, and stormed from the room.

Hours later he sat on the kitchen floor, pulling apart the blender. Tony hadn't slept, instead opting to relieve his emotional burdens through disassembling appliances. His cell phone was ringing on the counter above him, but Tony ignored it. It's not like it is Pepper calling, Tony thought darkly.

"Sir, Colonel Rhodes is calling," Jarvis said.

"Don't care," Tony replied, throwing the blades of the blender to the side without a glance.

"He has threatened to come over if you don't answer."

That was the last thing Tony wanted. With a sigh he stood, blender motor in hand, and swiped the cell phone from the counter. He looked at the number of missed calls, raised an eyebrow, and answered the phone.

"Seven missed calls? Seriously?"

"You were supposed to meet me two hours ago."

"Was I? Sorry," Tony said blankly, mildly intrigued by the wiring of the blender's internal parts.

"New recruits? New generation of smart defense technology? Any of that ringing a bell?"

"No, afraid not."

"Are you telling me Pepper didn't remind you? Or did you just forget on your own. As usual." Rhodey's exasperation made Tony roll his eyes.

"No," Tony snapped back. "I think Pepper was too busy storming out of my house to remind me about a God-damned recruit welcoming."

"Pepper – what?" Rhodey paused, swore softly. "Man what did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Dude."

"What did I tell you about using that word?"

"Tony what the hell did you do."

Tony threw the pieces of the blender into the corner and pulled the toaster towards him. Talking to somebody who still sounded sane made Tony realize just how far off he'd fallen, and while dismantling the blender had seemed mildly insane a moment ago, he was pretty sure that in a few hours this would look like the work of a lunatic.

"I broke up with her."

"What the-"

"Look, spare me, okay?" Tony snapped. "I'm a huge fucking idiot. There, I said it, so you don't have to."

"Is there a reason?"

"No."

"Don't make me come over there."

"I hate you," Tony muttered into the phone, unscrewing the cover of the toaster. "I overreacted."

"To what?" Rhodey asked, an edge of impatience to his voice.

"I freaked out. I don't know what the hell I'm doing." Tony pulled the heating coils from the toaster and threw them aside. "I felt like I was going to smother her, or something."

"Like...homicide?"

"Yeah, that's it, I felt like murdering her with a pillow."

"Tony you're not being clear here. You freaked out? Smothering her?"

"I want her around. A lot. And it sort of freaks me out. I'm not really a commitment type, you know."

"I had no idea," Rhodey said dryly.

"But I want to. Commit to her and all that."

"Let me see if I've got this," Rhodey started slowly. "You want Pepper, you're afraid of smothering her with how much you want her, and you want only her. Yeah?"

"Yeah, about."

"Have you told her you love her?"

"I don't...love her...."

Tony paused to think about it. He had never used that word to anyone besides his parents. He had never thought about it toward anyone else, not even when Stane had been like a second father to him. And the love he had felt for his mother was nothing like what he felt now toward Pepper. That, many years ago, had been a soft, warm feeling. But towards Pepper it was different. More possessive, more need, a feeling of total eclipsing happiness around her. And, more directly, a feeling of utter worthlessness after breaking her heart.

"Shit," Tony whispered, but loud enough for Rhodey to hear on the other side.

"You okay man?"

"Yeah, awesome. Who am I kidding? I don't even deserve to have Pepper."

"Shut up and call her."

"I can't – she'll resign."

Rhodey paused, silently trying to catch up to Tony's train of thought. "I think Pepper's a little more level-headed than to resign because you broke up with her."

"I brought someone home last night. Someone else."

The silence on the other line was broken only by the parts of the toaster scraping together as Tony continued to take it apart.

"Hi, hello?" Tony asked. "Are you breaking up with me now, too? Cause that would just really make my day excellent."

"You brought a woman home?" The tone of Rhodey's voice was enough to convey all the things he didn't say. He was angry, mostly for Pepper, Tony thought, and he was not trying to hide it.

"Calm down, nothing happened."

"What?"

"I kissed her. That's it. I sent her away. Jarvis as my witness."

Rhodey whistled.

"What?" Tony snapped, irritated.

"Man you got it bad. Tony Stark sending away a woman from his lair? Unheard of."

Tony's screwdriver slipped from the screw's head and he swore. "She wasn't Pepper," was all he could muster in his defense.

-

"Why did you come back?"

Pepper sighed and leaned against a counter top, her arms folded over her chest. She wanted to scoop him up, to hold him and take him to bed and keep him there. He looked tired. His hair was a riot. And the look in his eyes – a mix of sorrow and something like terror – made Pepper's pulse flutter.

"Rhodey."

Tony looked panicked. "What did he say?"

"That you were a mess."

Tony opened his mouth to protest, then closed it and shrugged. "Fair enough."

Pepper pushed her shoes off and sat down across from her, cross-legged, on the cold concrete floor. Tony gave her a lopsided smile, then he looked down at his hands.

"I can see your underwear."

Pepper rolled her eyes and pulled her skirt down in between her legs. "And here I thought we were going to have a serious conversation."

"Serious is hard for me."

Pepper looked at him, tracing the outline of his face with her eyes. It was then that she noticed he was wearing a collared shirt, something he reserved for public appearances. A chill went through her.

"Why are you dressed up?"

Tony leaned forward and ran his fingers through his hair. He sat up, pulled Pepper's hand towards him, turned it over and kissed her palm hotly. "I kissed someone last night," he murmured into her skin.

Pepper snapped her hand back quickly, rubbing away the feel of his lips with her thumb. She stared at him, completely at a loss. She expected anger, or hatred, but not this.

"Is that why you ended it?" Pepper asked, embarrassed by the weakness in her voice. "Are you bored?"

"Pepper," Tony breathed, looking pained. "Nothing else happened. I wanted it to, at first. I brought her home and took her upstairs-"

Pepper let something like a sob escape her lips, except she was more angry than sad, and she really wanted to slap him but he was too far away. Tony closed his eyes at the sound she had made and continued.

"We went upstairs and we kissed and...it just wasn't right. It wasn't you. I told her to go home."

She stared at him, knowing instantly that he was telling the truth. There was no gleam in his eye, nothing except some horrific sadness she hadn't seen before. Pepper remembered what Jarvis had said about Tony tearing up the bed and that, too, made sense.

"You can ask Jarvis, if you don't believe me," Tony muttered.

"I trust you," she replied, earning an amazed stare from him. "I'm still angry."

"You should be."

"And none of this is making sense."

"I know," Tony said. "I pushed you away for no reason. Pepper I'm terrified."

"Of what?"

His dark eyes bore into her own, then he looked away. "The other day I overheard gossip about us. They were betting on how long it'd be until we broke up."

"I wonder who won?"

Tony flinched. "It pissed me off. Taking bets on when I'd dump you? Low. And it hit me that I have no intention of letting you go – actually, I felt clingy and needy. It was weird to me."

To any other girl, Tony's speech would have seemed childish and unclear. But to Pepper it was crystalline and it made her smile softly.

"I still don't get why breaking it off was the best option."

He took her hand and Pepper didn't protest. "Look, uh – I'm in love with you. And it freaks me out."

Pepper grinned lopsidedly; it wasn't the most romantic declaration ever, considering that they were sitting on a concrete floor and that Tony had amended the sentiment with how terrified he was. Still, Pepper's stomach fluttered.

"Why didn't you say so?"

Tony blinked at her. "I, uh, well I've never done this. I thought maybe it was too early? Or too...intimidating? Or that you didn't – well and that would be lame."

"Of course I do."

"What?"

"Love you."

"Oh." Tony stared at her, then grinned and pulled her hand to his mouth again. "Excellent." Pepper felt herself tingle at the contact of his mouth on her wrist. She grinned recklessly, warm and happy and glad. And absolutely certain that she loved Tony Stark, and that he loved her back.

Tony swiveled and got onto his knees. He crawled over to her, dropping her hand in favor of placing one hand on her waist and the other behind them for support. He kissed her forehead and Pepper closed her eyes, her chest swelling with something unknown and happy. When she felt Tony's lips on her own she accept them, opening her mouth to his in a kiss so familiar but now, after everything, different and warmer and more intimate.

She swung her own legs out in front of her so that Tony could lay them down on the concrete. He pulled her closer; she shivered at the feel of him against her.

"So another thing," Tony murmured into her hair, his hand working its way up her thigh, pushing her skirt out of the way. "A superhero's girlfriend really should be nearby, in case something devastating happens."

"Mmhmm," Pepper replied, pressing her hips into his and eliciting a soft groan from his throat.

"I was thinking you should move in. With me."

Pepper smiled and kissed his neck. Two monumental leaps in one day was more than Pepper had been prepared for. Part of her didn't believe him; Tony enjoyed his space and his home, and Pepper couldn't blame him because she understood. She liked her apartment and her time to herself. But the way his hand was grazing on the inside of her thigh made her think she could get used to living with Tony Stark.

"Hmm I don't know," she said, continuing her ministrations on his neck. "You'll have to show me it's worth it."

Tony glanced at her, saw the smile in her eyes, and grinned back. As his mouth met hers and his fingers found their target, Pepper arched into him and wondered if make-up sex really was the best.

Three weeks later Pepper Potts had officially moved in with Tony Stark.

-

So I find serious-Tony especially hard to write. In my mind I can't see him being very good at having serious conversations (it's hard for most people, so why not for Tony?). Instead I think he'd be shy and awkward about it. Just my take. R&R!